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ATGATT vs. STGSTT

i.e. all the gear all the time vs. some of the gear some of the time. Or none of the gear all the time.

I got back into riding last year after a 20-yr hiatus. And adopted the ATGATT approach, even though it is blazing hot and humid where I live in summer.

Most of the Harley guys here look like None of the Gear All of the Time - NO-GATT. I'm curious about how things stack up elsewhere - I'd guess that here, less than 5% of the riders are geared up. When I ride up the road to SC, it seems that the vast majority don't even wear a helmet. What about where you are?

Pawork, I do ATGATT down here in hot/humid N FL. With mesh gear you are fairly comfortable while moving (over 30mph). I'm looking forward to riding up to the Carolina's and perhaps TN this fall to enjoy cooler weather and scenic backroads. The majority of the riders & passengers around here wear short sleeves, no gloves, shorts, shoes/sandles and no helmet. I used to ride with dungarees, T-shirt and boots but, at 65 years of age I know that my body does not heal as fast or well as it used to. I can attest that simple road rash is not fun, and the scars stay with you as a life long reminder. I intend to keep riding for many more years and regard ATGATT and periodic MSF courses as a type of insurance policy. Ride Safe

STGATT is what I do...

This subject has been discussed, at length, in many threads here.

I always wear my boots, helmet, gloves, and one of my jackets. Sometimes I wear riding pants, but usually only on longer rides.

From my point of view, it's a personal decision. I live in Minnesota, a non-helmet law state. Many choose to not wear helmets. Their choice. My choice is to wear mine. I wouldn't necessarily paint the non-gear wearing crowd as the "Harley" crowd. I see many sportbike riders doing the same.

I think the question was more alone the lines of "what do others you see as you ride wear, not so much what you wear", which as pointed out is kind of a worn out topic. What I see in the Metro area is that we have three types of riders as far as gear is concerned. Many of the cruiser types wear either the typical "cruiser wear" while a good number I see have jackets, either mesh in summer, or heavier in winter but not always pants in summer. touring riders, regardless of brand ,i.e. BMW, Concours, Goldwing, etc, mostly seem to be full gear types, sport bike types often wear full-face helmets and jackets, more often than not, matching the colors with the machine, but not so much riding pants and a lot seem to wear sneakers, not boots, and often shorts as well, though I think those are mostly folks on short rides. When I get out of town, many more riders of all types of machines have at minimum long pants on and boots, helmets and some type of glove.

Partly it seem age related, young kids on sport bikes and older cruiser riders seem to go the less gear route, while older sportbike types and younger cruiser riders tend to go the more gear route, which I find interesting. Perhaps the older cruiser type go for “the Look” because that is always how they have seem themselves and ride that type of machine because of that very look, while the inverse is true for the older sport bike and touring bike type who have developed a sense of awareness about their own mortality that youngsters generally don’t have; how many us have said/talked about the crazy stunts we pulled and got away with in our youth ? I know I have! The younger cruiser crowd seems mixed around my neck of the woods, some seem to be drawn to “The Look” while others go for more gear.

Now understand these are just off the cuff observations, I haven’t made a study of it, but that seems to be the trend in my area. Helmets are required in most states I ride in the most, so having some sort of head gear is NOT optional though I hear from others who travel to states close by that don’t have laws, it not uncommon for the cruiser types to remove theirs, probably more frequently than others.

I saw a harley guy the other day leaving the grocery store....in full gear! I must admit it was an odd sight.

Funny but that happened to me just recently on my way home, there is small historical town I pass thru that has a open air cafe, there was this guy on an HD with all the gear, sitting and having a cool drink as I passed on my LT. I found pretty funny since I only had jeans and a tee shirt (plus boots and helmet) on! couldn't help chuckling to myself, "Now that's a switch!" Ha Ha!

I know this has been done to death, but I was at the Ear Inn last night (for the uninitiated, Tuesday is "European" bike night at this historic Soho tavern) and remarked to one of the regulars, "You know, the only time I see ATGATT in this city, is when I see you guys here at the Inn."

During the NYC "season" riders with full gear are rare sight and casual clothing is not only limited to owners of cruisers and Japanese sport bikes. On a daily basis, I see many riders of BMWs, Triumphs and Ducatis in T-shirts, shorts and whatever footwear is required for the day: sneakers, sandals, or oxfords (if one is riding in one's business suit). I have never seen a person on a Scooter wearing anything more protective than a helmet. I saw a guy on a Bonnie last night wearing flip-flops.

It's interesting and would provide fodder, I'm sure, for a comprehensive study on the subject of riding style and gear choice. Here in New York City being and looking cool is de rigeur (that goes without saying), but I feel the choices practiced by the unprotected masses are more about not being informed than it is about consciously avoiding healthier ones.

We are in (northern) New Hampshire- the "Live free or die" state. Where you do not need vehicle insurance and no required seatbelts for adults.

Here Cathy and I, being ATGATT, are the oddballs. T-shirts, shorts and bare heads are the overwhelming choice.

After years of bicycle road riding and racing, I know about roadrash. I don't want to get off at motorcycle speeds to have my skin hit first. No way will I ride without all the gear. I would sell the bike first.

Recently it's been pretty hot/humid here and I've been disappointed to see someone on the opposite side of the highway on an airhead (blue with white RT fairing) wearing a helmet as the only protective gear that I can make out. Otherwise it's just a t-shirt and pants. I'm not sure why an unprotected BMW rider bothers me more. I had seen a guy on a black Airhead several years ago riding around town with no helmet on. He also never waved. haven't seen him in a long time.

Anyhow, there are very few full-gear riders around here, which seems to be no different from anywhere else. TONS of cruiser riders (HD and Honda) riding in shorts and t-shirts with no helmets. Lots of the sportbike guys wear helmets and gloves, most also wear jackets. Aside from that it's jeans and tennis shoes. I lurk on their forum sometimes and they always talk about "full gear"; none of them seem aware of the highly likely foot/ankle injuries that can happen in an accident. I would jump in and warn them, but most of them are not the type of riders I want to be involved with.

To be honest, I think the only full-gear person I see on my commutes is the guy with the R1200GS who works nearby, though I always spot him from a distance. I need to catch up to him sometime and say 'hi'.

JD No offense, but you are one of the reasons I hate being a BMW rider and rather consider myself a motorcyclist.

You were "disappointed" at someone's lack of gear.

"Not the type of riders you want to be involved with"

"I need to catch up with him and say hi" The AGATT guy is the only person worthy of your aknowledgement?

I ride AGATT, and being an Ohioan I make it back there quite frequently. Please do me a favor and don't say hello and wave to me. There is only one type of rider I do not like, the one who thinks the choices they make put them above everyone else.

JD No offense, but you are one of the reasons I hate being a BMW rider and rather consider myself a motorcyclist.

You were "disappointed" at someone's lack of gear.

"Not the type of riders you want to be involved with"

"I need to catch up with him and say hi" The AGATT guy is the only person worthy of your aknowledgement?

I ride AGATT, and being an Ohioan I make it back there quite frequently. Please do me a favor and don't say hello and wave to me. There is only one type of rider I do not like, the one who thinks the choices they make put them above everyone else.

I think you are reading a bit much into what I've written.

I was "disappointed" because I don't really like seeing people ride without gear on. I'm one of those crazy people who don't like to see people get injured. I guess I'm just odd like that. Mind you, I've never harassed anyone I didn't know about wearing gear, and I never will. That doesn't mean I like seeing people ride without gear.

"not the type of riders I want to be involved with", indeed. I'll even elaborate and explain WHY:

- Organized high speed (triple-digit) Sunday rides down the same stretch of road that is a two-lane 55mph road. Thankfully the police setup a road block and wrote a number of tickets last year. It's always good angering the people who LIVE on that road and drive along it. Going that fast in many places gives you NO sight distance and there are lots of roads intersecting.

- HIGH SPEED weaving through traffic. Also very safe.

- Each year they take a trip out of state and each year someone crashes. Thankfully nobody has been seriously hurt that I know of, though bikes have been totalled.

- One just came back from a trip and talked about SEVERAL crashes due to excessive speed.

- Loud aftermarket sport bike pipes.

- One ran into trouble trying to evade the police (he was caught). Others have talked about running from the police in the past.

- I know several non-BMW sport bike riders who rode with them and stopped for many of the reasons I listed above, so I'm not the only one with this opinion of them.

Starting to see why I don't want to be involved with them? The bulk of them are NOT safe riders and I don't want to be anywhere near them. I'm sure some of them are nice guys, but I don't ride with people I consider unsafe riders. I'm sure many of us speed, but I have problems when I see posts about "I hit 150 on that straightaway" when it's on a two-lane road with houses on it. I read their forum to know where they are so I am NOT in the area. This spring I actually had one of them start to make a left in front of me because he wasn't paying attention. And people thought it was only cagers who did that.

As for my comment about catching up to the ATGATT guy and saying 'hi', you're reading WAY too much into that. I say that because I've seen him a number of times from a distance. BMW's are rare around here; I'd love to meet him and introduce myself. Coincidentally, I wave at everyone; gear or no gear, regardless of make or model. People who have ridden with me can attest to that. Sorry, but if I see you I'll end up waving to you. If you like, wear a sign that says "Josh, please don't wave to me" in BIG letters and I'll make sure not to wave your way.

city's hot, city's gross, i work with motorcycles all day long, i'd die of heat stroke if i were ATGATT. i throw on the leathers for long rides, just the jacket when i ride to work in the bronx and, sorry to say just my long sleeve t shirt and jeans/cargo pants when i ride to the training facility .8 miles from my house in brooklyn. my comfort for the day is paramount, when i'm teaching 8-10 hours a day and its 100 degrees out, sweating to death on the ride over isn't an option for me. (yeah, go ahead, lump the "road rash sucks more than sweating" criticism on me now). i wouldn't put on a riding suit to ride my bike over there, i'm hardly exceeding bicycle speeds on the way to work so it's a calculated risk.

to each his own

the only ATGATT violation that kills me is not having a helmet or gloves.

city's hot, city's gross, i work with motorcycles all day long, i'd die of heat stroke if i were ATGATT. i throw on the leathers for long rides, just the jacket when i ride to work in the bronx and, sorry to say just my long sleeve t shirt and jeans/cargo pants when i ride to the training facility .8 miles from my house in brooklyn. my comfort for the day is paramount, when i'm teaching 8-10 hours a day and its 100 degrees out, sweating to death on the ride over isn't an option for me. (yeah, go ahead, lump the "road rash sucks more than sweating" criticism on me now). i wouldn't put on a riding suit to ride my bike over there, i'm hardly exceeding bicycle speeds on the way to work so it's a calculated risk.

to each his own

the only ATGATT violation that kills me is not having a helmet or gloves.

And you know, it probably will

some day

maybe

if you're really unlucky

or you die first

from that n00b in the full suit who just learned to ride his 160 HP turbo runs you off the road! Ha Ha!